Across the United States, in small towns and big cities, men are forcing young girls and boys to have sex for money.

A recent study issued by the Urban Institute on the illegal sex trade in eight U.S. cities, confirmed what many law enforcement and anti-sex-trafficking activists have known for some time: sex traffickers are making obscene amounts of money with little legal or criminal ramifications.

According to the study, the average sex trafficker or pimp in San Diego rakes in more than $11,000 per week. Pimps in Atlanta have the highest mean gross incomes of the eight cities studied, earning nearly $33,000 per week — just shy of the annual per capita income in the city.

What is the source of all the money they receive? Traffickers and pimps are filling their wallets from the demand of sex buyers. Until we shut off the money supply at its source, this illicit sex trade will continue to grow.

In areas like Los Angeles County, the average age of entry into commercial sex is 12 to 14 years old. As one vice detective said, when we encounter a 21-year-old on the street, it’s because we have failed to rescue her as a teen. Regardless of their intention, individuals who purchase children or adult trafficking victims for sex are committing rape.

Studies have shown that stiffer penalties would deter most sex buyers. Unfortunately, sex buyers are rarely held accountable for their role in the illicit sex trade and often time receive minimum sentences for their crimes.

Nationally, studies have indicated that only 10 percent of all prostitution arrests are of the sex buyers, with the remainder 70 percent prostituted females and 20 percent prostituted males.

In Los Angeles County, 1,398 of the 35,402 females arrested for solicitation from 2003-12 were children as young as 9, while 151 of the 22,864 males arrested for solicitation in the same period were also children ages 10 to 17.

Here in Los Angeles County, we know that a staggering 59 percent of the juveniles arrested for “prostitution” were in foster care.

The justice system should protect our most vulnerable but instead, our laws punish the victim with few consequences for sex buyers.

A new bill launched in the state Legislature and authored by Sens. Ted Lieu, Jerry Hill and Holly Mitchell aims to curb this unchecked demand for commercial sex. Senate Bill 1388 will establish minimum fines and penalties to the buyer, distinguish the buyers from the sellers, require offenders to participate in a sex buyer program and direct fines to fund exit programs for the exploited.

Advertisement

SB 1388 corrects California’s archaic solicitation laws. Minors should never be categorized as prostitutes, since they cannot legally consent to sex, according to California and federal laws. This bill would create a balance in a skewed system that favors sex buyers with incentives like maintaining a clean record for first–time offenders.

Over the last two years, Los Angeles County has been aggressively tackling the issue of preventing sexual exploitation of our youth.

We have trained thousands of employees, coordinated our rescue efforts with law enforcement and community organizations, and developed programs to support victims.

We must, however, focus on the demand side, and penalize those who exploit our most at-risk girls and boys. New legislation offers meaningful and appropriate punishments for those who buy young innocent children for sex, and hope for the most vulnerable victims.

Together we will say: “No more. Not in our streets. Not to our young children.”

Don Knabe is chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and represents the 4th District. Daphne Phung is founder of California Against Slavery.